Blogs

Since I have renewed my interest in blogging - well posting really. I have always been reading blogs, just not commenting on very many.

However, my blog list is a bit...lacking. Over the years some have gone private, some have closed their blog, some are just not my taste anymore and various other reasons.

So tell me - what blogs do you read. They don't have to be adoption blogs but I would love to add some blogs to my Google Reader.

Please share...

Finances

I was out recently with a married friend. While we were out, she mentioned that he husband ‘bought’ her an outfit for the baby. She also mentioned that a couple of weeks prior, he had paid for the groceries because she was low on cash. I have seen married couples go to a restaurant and each pay for their own. All these things are different then what Mark and I do or how we handle our money.

This lead me to thinking, how do couples handle their finances. Do couples have HIS and HERS money? Does a certain percentage – based on what is earned – go into a communal pot? Is a set amount put in a joint account each payday? Is one partner responsible for this, this and this, while the other is responsible for that, that and that?

It intrigues me to learn how and or why other couples handle things the way they do.

Mark and I have one pot. It all goes in the one pot. Yes we have savings and pay bills etc, but the money that comes in is OURS. We discuss large purchases before they are made, but otherwise, we both spend what we want to spend. That said, we are basically both on the same wavelength about what we will spend our money on. Neither of us is going to go crazy and spend a bunch on money on anything. If I want to go out for lunch or dinner with friends, then that is what I do. If he wants to pitch in for a gift for someone at work, then that is what he does. It all basically works out. We don’t keep track of who spent what.

What do other couples out there do? Please feel free to answer anonymously if you don’t want to be identified.

I would LOVE to hear how others do it.

End Date...

First off - what is wrong with me doing two posts in two days...

Anyway - there are so many of us waiting for our children from China. None of us has expected the HUGE wait that we have/had before us.

I am just wondering if people out there have wavered. Have you had a date in your head that if you don't receive a referral by a certain date that you are pulling out.

What about a certain age of yourselves? If you don't receive a referral when you reach a certain age will you withdraw?

What about your current family situation? Do you already have children? Does that make the wait easier or harder? Does it make you want to pull out or stay in?

We are looking at an additional 5 year wait from NOW - unless something drastically changes - for our daughter from China. This is certainly NOT what we signed up for.

Would you - if able - pursue a concurrent adoption and have your child from China be the second child instead of the first child?

I just have so much rambling on in my head right now.

Out of Curiosity...

Just out of curiosity, when you leave a comment on someones blog, do you click the "E-mail follow-up comments" button?

Just wondering...

Assistance Please

While I am in agony over my back, it seems that the only chair that is comfortable is my computer chair!! Go figure. The couch is too soft and the other chair in the living room, my feet don't touch the ground. So here I am in front of the computer - poor me...heehee

So while I am sitting here and getting all caught up on my blog reading, I thought I might do some blog maintenance also. I see everyone with all these different headers and I don't know where they get them from. I have tried searching and I don't come up with ANYTHING exciting or nice at all.

If anyone would like to share their secrets with me, I would really appreciate it! Then I will ATTEMPT to change it on my own - that could be interesting!!

A bit of this and a bit of that

First off I would like to thank Rhonda and Kathy for the wonderful CNY cards. I am a little behind the 8 ball on that one – sorry... What a lovely gesture and it was very much appreciated! Thank you!!

Secondly – Last night we were at Hortense’s and we celebrated Mark’s birthday! We had a GREAT time as usual!! I made cupcakes and we had them in a ‘tree’. Very cool actually!

Thirdly– I have FINALLY updated my 100 Good Wishes Quilt site – you can see it by clicking here. We are at 37 SQUARES!! Only 63 more needed!!

Fourthly - I would like to address Blog Etiquette – if there is such a thing. Should one seek permission to put a link on your own blog to someone else’s blog? When I first started blogging I was doing this, but then I saw that I was on other people’s blogs and they hadn’t asked me (which I am o.k. with) so then I thought I was doing it wrong so I then just added who I “read” to my blog roll. Should one seek permission?

Fifthly - I would like to address that sometimes there is nothing to comment on. What I mean by that is that someone has made a post (generally a wonderful one) and I generally comment, but there are times when I either, don’t agree with what they have posted about, or I can’t think of anything to say to comment on. I sit here and rack my brain to think of something and either someone has already said it, or I just CAN’T think of anything prolific to say. So it is o.k. to read and NOT comment sometimes – though everyone LOVES comments!

Sixthly – about commenting – if there are a bunch of posts, it is o.k. to just comment on the most recent and not comment on all the previous ones – especially if you have been away and there are 165 new posts on your Bloglines account. I know it is o.k. as I can comment where and when I want, but I was just thinking about it out loud.

Seventhly – how do you get that little icon beside your blog in the address line? Like Rhonda has a little maple leaf, Kathy has a heart and C.J. has her little “picture” symbol??

Eighthly – It is always the question of how much to reveal on your blog. I know MANY others have also grappled with this dilemma as many of them have had some negative experiences. There are many things about myself that I don’t reveal on the blog and perhaps never will. But for now, I am happy with the blogging world and it keeps me in touch with SO MANY wonderful women and that (at this point in time) out weighs any negativity with blogging.

Ninthly – If you are not on my blog roll and you would like to be, please let me know as I am going to be doing some blog housekeeping in the near future.